Her
by Kadrian
Summary: They started off on the wrong foot years ago in Selection, but Wolf had been so sure they were healing this time around. Written For SpyFest 2018 Week 1. Rated T for mildly sensitive material and swearwords. [SpyFest Week 1 Winner]


Written for SpyFest 2018 Week 1

 **Prompt** : "Mission gone wrong. All because of a 6-year old girl"

* * *

"In, out, clear shots, grab the hostage, no hassle," Back pressed against the wall and ducked low to avoid surveillance, Wolf whispered to his team, "Am I clear?"

The shuffling of cloth against hard Kevlar of their helmets answered his question. Fox was in front of him, and the spy turned back to give him a thumbs up and a grin, "Here we go."

The agent was a blur as he swiftly turned and moments ago where the door stood between the doorway and interior was now empty, a resonating wham accompanied their entrance as the doorknob hit the back of the wall and propelled the door back. But the rest of K-Unit was already through before the door slammed shut, the streams of bullets shot from the rifles of the uninvited house guests and the masked figures guarding the entrance was down in a matter of seconds.

The only sign of satisfaction was exchanged through a thumbs up from Fox before he knocked down the first room on his right, his gun drawn and surprised yells echoed through as the agent whirled in. Wolf didn't have time to admire his ex-unit member's work as he took the door on the left, just as the occupants inside pulled the barrier open to confront them. A little too late, Wolf thought wryly as he kicked the door down, knocking two of them unconscious, and took down the third just as he fired a shot, in its wake leaving a creased trail across Wolf's sleeve and a thud on the wall behind before falling onto the wood floor.

Snake and Eagle took the last two rooms, and within seconds the rooms were clear. No sign of hostage. Moving to the second floor, Wolf signaled as he pointed upward, taking the lead as he went. His rifle was trained up the stairs, feeling the air of apprehension accompanying the silence. Fox had his back, and Eagle took up the rear. A small creak halted them.

Of course, they were expecting more defense upstairs, but the eerie silence was unnerving. This wasn't how normal procedures went. This was where the captors would appear with their own rifles and take them out. Or tried, anyway. Wolf jerked his head toward the first room and they nodded in compliance. Go together. The thought of it being a trap was heavy in the air, and each step they took they made sure it was with utter-most stealth and discrepancy.

Wolf gingerly trapped for wires around the room before testing the handle. It was locked. That didn't stop his forced entry as his boots connected with the doorknob, once twice, then the center and the rest splintered and fell away. His rifle was up, but it wasn't necessary. The room was devoid of the hostage, or the captors. The rough wooden door splintered as he stepped through the wreckage he had made. Steel chair, table, half-opened window, and a mattress on the floor lacking a frame. Goddammit. He didn't like this.

"Check the other rooms," In a low voice, he turned to his team, "Make sure there's no trip wire while you're at it. I don't like this."

"Wolf," Fox interrupted him, pointing at the last room down the corridor, "The door's open. Think we should check that out first?"

Wolf glanced at the taunting interior just hidden out of his view by the door frame. Then he made the decision and nodded, motioning to move forward to the last door as he took up the rear. If the other two doors held awaiting men, he would be sure to take them out before they could get far. His backward walk came to an awkward halt as he bumped into Snake. Before he could turn and look for the cause, he heard a groan from Fox who had taken the lead.

Wolf tapped Snake's shoulder to switch position as he investigated the source of Fox's mildly amused distress. There was a single chair in the center of the room, and a vaguely familiar figure was sat amid the wires and the boxes after boxes of explosives situated around and under the chair. He wasn't gagged, but his limbs were bound, by thick hello-kitty duck tape and ropes, to the arms and legs of the steel chair. The figure smiled widely.

"Hey, _Fox_ ," Cub wiggled his fingers to accompany the greeting, "How's training going?"

"What the bloody hell are you doing here?" Fox asked, his gun still up and his stance remained, but he was visibly more relaxed than advised, "You're not the hostage."

"Yeah, well," The young spy frowned thoughtfully, "Lily got bored, said she didn't want to sit in the explosives, so we switched places."

"Are you one of the captors?"

"Yes, well," With a sigh, Cub hollered toward the closets, "Lily! They're here! I know you don't like that rugged outfit, but I don't want to be strapped here any longer than necessary. I promise you that you look cute in the shirt."

A little girl tumbled out of the closet hurriedly with a disgruntled expression, rushing to stand between Cub and them with a detonator waving in her hands, "Stop right there, you va…va…"

"Valiant," Her captor bounded in the chair behind her supplied helpfully.

"Stop right there, you valiant soldiers," Lily completed her sentence proudly, "If you take another step, I will blow Cubby up!"

An innocently proud smile graced Cub's face as he added unnecessarily, "Cubby, that's me. Right, I know it's messed up, and she's the hostage and all that, but if she blows me up, you're all dead as well."

"Bloody…," Fox groaned, barely had time to rein his foul words in, "What did you do? Did you brainwash a child?"

"Brilliant," Eagle inserted himself into the conversation, earning a smack on his head from Wolf, "Hey!"

Wolf lowered his weapon to his side, brushed past Fox, and crouched down to match the girl's eye-level. Tentatively, she took a step back and her fingers painfully carelessly brushed against the red button. It even had a large hello-kitty sticker on it.

"Lily, why don't you hand me that stick, and we can all leave? You don't want to be here, do you? And that outfit, if we get out of here now, I promise you can change out of it."

"Are you saying you don't like her outfit?" Fuck. With a deep inhale, Wolf angled his eyes to look at Cub, restraining himself from strangling the nuisance and wipe that smirk off his face, "Her outfit is cute, Wolf, are you saying something against her outfit?"

That did the trick. Lily's eyes widened into those of creepy Bambi's as she met Wolf's gaze, and started to grow watery with miserable tears, "H-H-How could you? How can you say that?"

"Yeah, Wolf, how can you say that?"

"Oh shut the f…up," Wolf shut his eyes for a brief moment before trying to reconnect with the girl again. This was not going well, and whoever planted Cub here clearly had ulterior motives, "Lily, you are the hostage, he is your captor. Why don't we leave this horrible place? Really, do you want to blow him up? "

Lily glanced at Cub, who nodded his head furiously like the figurines situated on car fronts that bobbled their head until they fell off, "Yeah, I do. Blowing things up is fun!"

"Okay, how about this? We get out of here, and then you can blow things—No, don't look at him. Eyes on me—when we get out of here, you...No, don't look at Cub, just give me a yes or no."

"No."

"I didn't finish my sentence."

Cub, again, wiggled his finger as if raising his hand to speak in class, "I'm still holding Lily hostage, despite what _this_ ," His eyes gestured at the boxes of marked explosives sitting innocently around him like Lego pieces of a child's playground, "Might look like. You can't shoot me, or we'll all go up in a blaze of glory. So why don't we negotiate a deal?"

"This is an unrealistic representation," Wolf growled as he stood up.

However, Cub's long drawn-out sigh seemed to think otherwise, "Well, you can't expect everyone to follow your normal routine. Which is, surprise surprise, why the sergeant brought me in for your Killing House run-through. The new and unplanned situation, blah blah blah. Bet you stared at him for a good long second when he said the hostage was going to be a little girl, huh?"

Cub's smug explanation was cut off when the little girl Lily tapped her captor on his arm to get his attention, "I need to pee."

"You can't pee right now, Lily."

The girl struck the ground with her foot stubbornly and repeated her statement with the typical conviction of a stubborn six-year-old. Childishly, Cub and Lily had a moment of eye conversation before the spy wiggled his fingers again, "Alright, hand me that stick and you can run along."

"Hey!" Wolf's loud exclamation was only words, and he could only watch as Lily more than happily handed the detonator to Cub, pressing it into his hands until he could really get a grip on it through all the duck tape wrapped around his limb inhibiting many of the basic movements.

The hostage was quick to dart out of the room, down the hall, and thundered down the stairs to use the restroom a few meters outside the perimeter of the house. Cub giddily waved the detonator in his hand before pressing the red button, "Boom! We are, officially, dead. Congratulation."

"Oh for god's sake," Fox rolled his eyes as he unstrapped his helmet and ran a hand through his hair to ruffle it back up, "Good thing it's not my job that's on the line, eh? I'm only here as a substitution for Wolf's sick teammate. How in the world did the sergeant smuggle in a girl as a fake hostage? Who's little sister is that?"

"Lily? She's the sergeant's daughter," Making a noise of mild irritation and distress, Cub redirected their attention to his bounded limbs, "A little help here?"

After Snake cut away the rope and tape with his knife—Fox and Eagle were too busy discussing conspiracy theory about the sergeant's daughter and Wolf was enjoying the fact Cub being strapped down in a pile of, albeit fake, explosives to care—Lily came rushing back into the room like a whirlwind of grey ragged cloud.

"Cubby Cubby," Lily said as she tugged urgently at Cub's sleeve, a worried frown on her face as she tried to drag the spy out of the room to follow her, "There's a birdie. It can't fly, I think its wing's broken but I can't reach it."

"A bird?"

"It's got a fluffy tail," Lily nodded, "And it's up in the tree. I saw it jump from branch to branch, nearly falling off one too."

"Fluffy tail?"

"It's got four legs too," Nodding eagerly at her audience, "I've never seen a four-legged bird. It's ugly, but I've gotta help it, Cubby."

Wolf watched with heightened amusement as Cub crouched down to face the girl with a shook of his head to mask his snicker of laughter at the blunt description of her newly discovered creature, "That's not a bird, Lily. That's a squirrel. Squirrels, they don't have wings, and sometimes they live up in the tree."

"Like birds?"

"Yeah, just like birds. They're not hurt, they just sometimes like staying still."

Lily pouted for a solid few seconds before resigning, "Okay, but if it's a bird and it got hurt and you didn't help it, the bird mother won't spare you."

"I promise you it's not a bird," Cub reached out and gently ruffled Lily's hair, "C'mon, let's get you some food. You did an amazing job today."

As the two idiots brushed by Wolf, Lily gave Wolf's booted feet a hard stomp in triumph, "'Course I did! They were so scared. The big _dummy_ looked really scared when I was about to cry."

"I saw," Cub shot Wolf a smirk as he ushered his protege little girl out the door before Wolf's rationality could leave him and cause chaos, "They definitely looked like they were gonna pee their pants, didn't they?"

"Yeah!"

Behind them, Wolf pinched the bridge of his nose as he imagined his hands wrapped around Cub's neck tightly until he could choke that smirk off his face. God damn the sergeant and Cub, what were they thinking?

* * *

Somewhere in front, Eagle remarked almost gleefully at the nostalgia of the hiking trail as he sidestepped a puddle, still wet from the rain almost a week ago. But then with the dense forest and the constantly-humid air, it wasn't at all surprising.

Wolf flanked them as he trudged along with Fox to his right and Snake and Eagle a few paces ahead. They probably stank more than they realized, but amid the sweat-soaked unit, none of them took note of it any more than Wolf took note of the footsteps crunching up behind them. Until moments later when it grew prominent.

"Eagle Eagle! Hey, guys wait up!" The shrill voice of the sergeant's daughter interrupted their walk and each of them turned almost simultaneously to face the newcomer. Newcomers.

Lily rushed past Wolf and Fox, deserting Cub who was trying to unhook a clip from his trousers, a hiking backpack sagging as if it was empty on his back. Fox grinned and went over to help his colleague in removing the safety harness and straps, "Looks like someone went bungee jumping."

"Actually, we went ladder climbing down a chopper," Cub corrected him with gratitude as Fox threw the harnesses into his backpack and zipped it back up, "Lily wanted to watch you guys hike—and I wasn't gonna hike five miles just to see you guys—so sergeant got us a chopper to drop us off at the nearest open space."

"There isn't an open space up around here."

Cub rolled his eyes, "Hence the ladder climbing and the harness. But no worries, you guys go on ahead when we start lagging behind. I'll just radio in for another chopper and meet you at the bottom."

Wolf tuned them out as he caught up with Eagle, Snake, and Lily up front. He hadn't seen the sergeant for all that long since the start of their refresher course—and the face of that man had long ago became nothing more an imprint stored in an exiguous part of his memory over the past year—but he was sure the sergeant's marriage, the latest one, and all the previous ones, had ended before it got to the point of a child. Adopted, perhaps, which explained the lack of similarity Wolf found between Lily and the sergeant. But it wasn't uncommon for the child to look nothing like their parents in their earlier years.

"So Lily," Wolf said as the girl happily walked with them with a spring in every step. Eagle and Snake had purposefully slowed down to let her catch up easily, "Why are you here?"

"Well," A cheerful tune escaped her in the form an off-tune hum. Somebody was in a good mood today, "We got on a chopper. Cubby put me on his back and he climbed down the ladder. The wind was really big too."

Eagle grinned at the complete missed-shot that flew over her head, "Sounds cool. Are you gonna stay the rest of the day as well? We got running courses in the afternoon. You can join us, I promise I'll give you a hand."

Lily's face was lit up by a brilliant smile then fell into a pout, "Cubby said I can't run for too long, so I'll watch. Though he said if I behave well, he'd take me around in that golf cart."

Cub clearly held a surrogate brother position in Lily's eyes. Wolf arched an eyebrow skeptically as he glanced over his shoulder at the young man amid an animated conversation with Fox, probably about the commonalities they shared on missions. Wolf sure would love to know what transpired between the sergeant and Cub to allow the man to trust Cub enough with his six-year-old daughter because last time he checked, the sergeant swore kitchen duty for four months to anyone who even dared to mention the keyword marriage.

"Cub seems like a nice guy," Wolf prompted.

"Cubby's nice," Lily agreed with a grin, "I like him. He spends a lot of time with me and he's got a funny friend named Tom. I like Tom too. Sometimes I think too much, and Cubby will tell me to not worry too much about it."

They talked for a while longer, but it was mostly Eagle excitedly explaining the whole of Brecon Beacons to her with wild hand signs and gestures. Lily's unending excitement seemed only to add to Eagle's impromptu speech, and it was almost half an hour later when Lily began to really show signs of fatigue.

"Hey Lily," Cub jogged the short pace to catch up with them, "Wanna go for a chopper ride? We can go really high up, and you can see the whole mountain."

"The whole mountain?" Lily's eyes widened, "Will I see the lake too? I wanna see the lake, Cubby!"

The young man grinned and affirmed her question as he settled a hand on her shoulder. Fox helped him grab the radio in his backpack and Cub took it with a nod of thanks, "Have fun hiking guys, we'll try to catch up at the cafeteria."

"I don't wanna eat at the cafeteria," Lily pouted, tugging at Cub's shirt to get his attention, "I don't like their food."

"You've never tried it. It's not…too bad," Cub's clear grimace was out of sight from Lily's perspective but the prominent pause was not lost on her.

"You're lying!"

With a sigh of resignation, Cub ruffled her hair as he gave away, "Alright alright, we can grab something from the food truck on the way down, then we'll go to the cafeteria and eat there. Sounds good?"

Lily nodded as she stole the radio from Cub's hand, "I'll radio. I know how to radio."

A helpless chuckle of exasperation was her only reply from Cub as he relented, watch as she tried to figure out the buttons from memory. Wolf cleared his throat to get his attention back.

"How are things with 6?"

Cub's eyes widened in mock surprise, "Oh, _gosh_ , I should've brought a brochure and a speech with me. But I got some trophies with me," He rolled up his sleeves and pointed at a fading scar around his wrist, "Mission gone south number one." The other sleeve, "I nicked myself with my own knife." Sleeves a little further up to reveal a faint bruise, "I ran into a shopping cart. And this beauty here—"

"What Cub's trying to say," Fox settled a hand on Cub's shoulder in camaraderie, "Is that 6 is great when he's not trying to accidentally shoot his partner."

"God, that was an accident, Ben," The young man shot the older a mock affronted look, "Besides, you were in my line of fire. You should've known better."

Fox repeated his last sentence in a nasal imitation of Alex, causing the latter to roll his eyes at the childish antics coming from the man almost a decade older than him. What interrupted the banter was Cub darting sideways painfully when Lily triumphantly poked the young man's side harshly with the antenna of the radio.

Eagle snickered loudly and gave Fox an 'up-high' high-five. Recovering enough to attend to his protege's need, Cub gave Lily a pat on her shoulder to congratulate her, tugging the radio out of her hand.

"They said they're coming," Lily relayed the information, completely unaware of the amount of pain she caused Cub by her brutal action—she didn't understand the grin on Fox's face either, "Said we're meeting them at the closest clearing. I don't know where that is. They said you would know. Do you?"

"Yeah, yeah I do," Cub winced as he straightened, a hand nursing his side, "It's just a few minutes of walk further. C'mon, let's get moving."

"Are you okay, Cubby? You look bad."

The blatant lie of 'I'm fine, it was a mosquito' from Cub had even Wolf wincing from sympathy. Perhaps he should reconsider having a child, for their innocence was always weighed above everything else. No wonder the sergeant dumped the duty of babysitting to Cub: that man had a whole camp of soldiers to watch over, the little girl would probably be the cause of his death.

* * *

"Can I have your fries?" Lily was saying when Wolf and others joined the two at their table in the cafeteria.

The sight of the young man and the little girl in the camp had already stirred up conversations with the soldiers. Judging by the sharp look of annoyance on Cub's face when they set their trays down on the table, it wasn't the first time soldiers had tried to chime in with their two-cents.

"You already had your share," Shifting to allow Fox to take the seat adjacent to him, Cub shook his head in refusal, "Besides, too much salt isn't good for your health. I'm not gonna give you mine even if I don't want it."

"If that's the case," Fox stole a fry from Cub's tray, "I'll gladly take it."

Before the spy could get another piece, Cub smacked his hand away, "Keep your paw to yourself, Fox."

Wolf shook his head as the spies were at it again. Sitting next to him, Lily jabbed him with her elbow to get his attention, accompanied by a harsh whisper of 'Wolf!'. He turned, "Yeah?"

"Will you help me with something?"

"Sure," Pushing the food in his tray around, he glanced at her, "What can I help with?"

"Follow me," Lily stood up and pushed her chair in, instantly getting Cub's attention, "Cubby, I'm gonna go use the restroom."

"Do you know where it is?"

"I'm taking Wolfie."

"Okay," Arching an eyebrow at the favoritism and the refusal, Cub then shrugged, "If Wolf tries anything, I don't care if they lose a soldier to disability, you get me?"

"Oki-poky, Cubby. Be back in a snap."

While Eagle was recovering from Cub's blunt innuendo of self-defense, Wolf was tugged away by Lily toward the opposite direction of the restroom. He glanced back just to see Cub threateningly running a thumb across his neck with an innocent smile lurking on his lips. Wolf ignored the young man in favor of watching his steps.

"Where're are headed, Lily?"

"I got the nice lady to wait for me," She said as she sped up but her short legs made no difference to Wolf's large strides, "She said she's staying there for dinner, so I said I'll be right back to pick up the sticks."

"The sticks?"

"She got a lot of sticks, from the mountain. I asked her if I can have them and she said yes."

Wolf frowned at the added confusion, "She?"

She stopped, nearly getting ran over by him, and turned to him with an exasperated pout, "Do you always ask so many questions? You're worse than Cubby when he gets all warm and fuzzy."

"Warm and fuzzy?"

"Are you just gonna repeat everything I say," Lily poked him with a serious expression, "Cuz then I'm just gonna go grab Eagle. I like Eagle better than you. Do you know why I asked you to come with me?"

When Wolf didn't answer, Lily added, "Two guesses."

Humoring her, Wolf racked his brain, "Because I'm nicer than all the rest?"

"No, you're the worst. Last guess."

Well, okay then.

"You like me?"

"Hmm," It was as if she was actually considering his response, "No. I picked you because you look like you hate Cubby, _dummy_. If you hate Cubby, you won't talk to him. If you don't talk to him, you won't tell him any secrets."

"I don't hate Cub," How did she even get that idea? From the few scowls he might have thrown the young man's way? "We got over that after the first time we met."

"Adults lie," However, that didn't seem to bother Lily much, "Anyways, I need you to help me with something, and keep it a secret. Pinky swear you won't tell anyone?"

"If it's something…illegal…"

"No, it's not. I'm sure."

"Okay."

They had stopped outside the infirmary, where the majority of the 'she' in the camp was situated, and Lily went inside. The smell of antiseptics and the blinding white light halted him at the door but Lily plowed on, making a beeline to the door at the end. The head of the infirmary. Grimacing at her childish innocence, Wolf reluctantly followed with each step heavy and trudging as if the thought of being in the hospital equated to being strapped down on one of the many white beds down the hall.

"Hello, Lily," The door creaked open upon a third knock, "I've got your bundle right here."

After setting the bundled sticks and wood into Lily's waiting arms, she opened her mouth as if about to say something to Wolf before she frowned, "Good afternoon, soldier, where's Cub?"

"He's otherwise preoccupied at the moment, ma'am," Wolf stood to attention.

She didn't look too overly convinced but at Lily's lack of objection to his company, she was hesitant to reprimand the absence of the spy, "Alright, but get back to Cub soon, don't make him worry too much."

"I know, I know," Lily beamed, "Thank you."

"Glad to help, soldier, a word please?"

Lily obediently went to take a seat outside the office. Apprehensively, Wolf walked closer to her waiting expression.

"Do you know who she is?"

"The sergeant's daughter, ma'am, I know," Wolf nodded, "She is safe with me, I promise you that."

"The sergeant's daughter?" Her eyes widened slightly in surprise, then in amusement, she chuckled with a shook of her head, "Alright, off you go, soldier."

On their way back, Lily was having trouble managing the sticks, some seemingly even taller than she was but Wolf wasn't sure for she was lugging them horizontally. Her hands tightened on the bundle every now and then with a frown as a few began to slip and slide.

Wolf offered his help but she pouted, "I'm not fragile, I can do this. Don't be a Cubby."

Sounded as if Cub was having some overly-protective issue with Lily, Wolf thought with amusement as he relented and let her manage her load. Though he did slow down a few paces to make sure she wouldn't trip over her feet. Going back with a butterfly bandage—however elegant and pretty it might be—wouldn't bode well.

"What do you need the sticks for?"

"I'm gonna build something, it's a bridge. And then I'm gonna paint it gold."

"A bridge?"

"It's a small model of what I want it to look like. Just a small one, but it'd be big," Lily stopped to wave her arms around to emphasize the size, "You can't tell Cubby though, he can't know about it."

Wolf nodded, "Pinky promise, alright. What's the bridge for?"

"I'm not telling you," Her response was accompanied by a secretive grin, "It's gonna be a surprise, you'll see. Well, you might not like it, but Cubby definitely will."

Ah. He understood now, "So it's something for Cub?"

She glanced at him, alarmed, at how fast her secret was discovered by him. Wolf hastily held up his hands in defense, "Hey, I won't tell Cub if that's what you want. It's a surprise gift, I pinky promised didn't I?"

The suspicious glint was still in her eyes as she hugged her sticks closer possessively, "You promise?"

"Yeah, I promise," Glancing around to make sure no one was around to witness it, Wolf squatted down and held up his hand, pinky out, "Let's seal it, should we?"

Happily, she did and shook the deal close, "Pinky, pinky bow-bell, whoever tells a lie, will sink down to a bad place, and never rise up again."

Wolf wasn't sure he had ever heard of that before, but he smiled and nodded along anyway, humoring her need for secrecy. A gift for Cub, huh, well, perhaps training wouldn't be as horrid as it used to be this time. Despite him sending the card for Cub's appendicitis almost years ago, he wouldn't say he would ever lift a finger to build something for him. This was for the little girl. Maybe if he showed he was nice to the kid, the sergeant would stop chewing his head off.

They spent the afternoon running. Hours later, it was late in the afternoon and after a tough day through the training courses, the units were soaking off in the lake. Cub had somehow appeared standing on the edge of it, his boots touching the tip of the water and still fully clothed with no intention of getting in. Wolf glanced up in mild irritation, purposefully shaking his head sending water flying in all directions, hoping at least a few drops would fly far enough to hit Cub, and brushed the rest away from his face.

"What are you doing here?" Wolf asked as he moved closer to the shallow end.

Cub jerked his head at somewhere behind Wolf, prompting Wolf to turn and look. Lily was in an inner tube, happily being pushed around by Eagle doing a one-handed freestyle, "Right."

"I know she didn't go the restroom. Should I be worried about where she went with you?" Cub asked with an arched eyebrow.

God, the kid was no fun, all serious and protective, "Not at all. Join us, I'm sure Fox would love to race you."

"Can't, I'm allergic to water," Cub didn't even bother with his lies.

But Wolf supposed he would take this version of Cub any day over the one he met two years ago when he was amid the selection chaos, "You can't be allergic to water." As if to prove his point, Wolf kicked up the water with his barefoot but Cub ducked away before the liquid could hit, "Are you gonna stand there and watch the whole entire time?"

Lily's happy cry of 'Cubby' interrupted their conversation for a brief second as Cub took time to wave back with a smile, "Yes, pretty much, but please enjoy the dip, Wolf, I hear you can get seriously sick swimming in lakes."

Wolf snorted at the false sincerity, "I'm sure."

The sound of Fox wading over to join them assault his ears, the man casually cupped his hands and dosed Wolf with a large splash of water, "Hey Wolf, Cub, how long you been standing there?"

"A few minutes. Lily's swimming."

Wolf noted that despite Cub's nonchalant conversation and seemingly bored expression, his eyes were constantly flickering to Lily to make sure she was where he thought she was. Eagle was slowly making a U-turn, tugging her to return to their starting point. And she laughed giddily, her feet kicking up water as she waded along.

"C'mon, Al," Fox grinned, "A little water won't hurt. You can still see her. Don't tell me you can't swim." Cub shot him a glare of exasperation, "Okay, no swimming, got it."

Wolf and Fox went to join Eagle and Snake in their parade of escorting Lily around the lake, leaving Cub watching them from the edge, still cross-armed and from afar, he looked like a statue. A statue in standard-issued cargo pants and cap but non-issued loose white jacket fitted over his frame, covering the logo of a black cross underneath, and Wolf questioned his sense of fashion.

It was half an hour, or it could have been easily an hour, later that Cub pulled the plug and made Lily get out of the water. She didn't seem too happy, but with a pout, she did. From near the shore, Wolf watched as, from the trail leading to the lake, the head of infirmary gave the girl a small wave before walking and making her way to Cub's side, wanting to speak to him.

He trod water in curiosity to observe their quiet conversation. It was somehow about Lily, judging by the way they sometimes shot glances toward the direction where she had disappeared to, but it was also about Cub. The woman gave Cub's shoulder a squeeze before he could duck away, and he forcefully pulled away from her grip with dismay evident in his posture.

"Hey Wolf, look at this!" Eagle's shout pulled him away, "Shit, it's moving!"

* * *

As Lily spent more and more time with him, to build the model bridge, it earned only glances of suspicions from Cub. Wolf told himself that entertaining and humoring the child in her kind-hearted mission for the paranoid spy was more important than petty ignorant glares.

Good thing Cub didn't seem _overly_ bothered to do anything along the line of following them—though oh boy did he come close to discovering their hideouts—but Wolf could see that it was nagging at the spy. Good for him, curiosity kills the cat, but curiosity also keeps the cat alive.

It wasn't that Lily enjoyed spending time with him, though Wolf hoped she did, but that she needed to. After their secret rendezvous was over, she would run back to Cub to be showered by his endorsement, leaving Wolf behind like some sort of second-choice prom date. God, was he actually jealous of a young spy over the affection of a kid?

Wolf supposed he liked Lily, she was funny and determined at all the right time, with just the right amount of sarcasm clearly rubbed off from Cub. If Cub hadn't forbidden her to do anything remotely 'physical-esque', as he called it, Wolf was sure she would be on the obstacle course first thing in the morning.

"The bridge isn't golden, Lily," Wolf tried to tell the stubborn young girl as they built the bridge. The base was done, and it had taken Wolf hours, mindlessly chipping away at the woods and listening to her jabbering on and on—oddly soothing—about all the fun things she discovered at the camp, to finish the foundation. A week or so, and they would be done.

"It's called the golden gate bridge," Lily pointed out stubbornly.

A few days ago, Wolf had run across the sergeant on an early morning, told him all about the wonderful gift that was his daughter. The sergeant looked as if he wanted to laugh, or rebut, but he clearly decided on neither and told him good work, and he should spend more time with Lily if that was what the girl wanted. And that equated to an early off-hour, fourteen hundred, four hours shorter than usual, but four hours more to chip away at the woods. Eagle and Snake had gotten awfully suspicious about what he was up to, but he told them it was Lily's secret. Somehow, that got more respect that he had ever received if he had said it was his secret.

"It's called the golden gate bridge due to the gold rush in California back in the days," He tried, he really did.

"Nuh-uh," Glue stick in her hand and fingers precisely piecing the little pieces together with the longer ones, Lily pouted, "I don't believe you. It's my gift, I'm painting it golden."

No sense bursting the child's bubble, Wolf thought, "So what's with the occasion?"

She stared at him blankly, not computing, "Today's Tuesday, it's not a holiday."

"I mean," Wolf corrected himself, "Why are you building a bridge for Cub?"

"It's..." Pursing her lips and her hands faltering for a quick moments before they went back to work, "It's a secret!"

Okay then. Wolf backed off. His next cut went a little further than he had expected, and the splinter flew into the air at his correction, "Shouldn't Cub be calling by now? Actually, I haven't seen him the whole day."

"Cubby's not here today," Give it to the child to refuse to elaborate.

"Do you know why Cub isn't here today?"

"He's getting his shoulder checked out," Lily glanced at him with a proud grin, "Cubby got hurt trying to save me, but he said it doesn't hurt. I think he's lying."

"Why's that?"

"Why's what?"

"Why did you think he was lying?"

She sat back in sweet relief as the last piece of the first stand was finally glued on, "Well, he went to the doctor, _dummy_. You don't see a doctor if you're not hurt. He said it's making sure nothing bad grows. He calls it an in-feck-shon. Do bad things grow in shoulders? That's kinda disgusting."

"There are bacteria," At her blank look, he tried again, "Germs, really tiny little things that invade the wound, and destroy it inside out."

Lily thought it over, raising her hand and inching her index finger and thumb really close, "Is it smaller than this."

"Mhm," He nodded, "Way smaller than that. You can't see it with your eyes, but you can feel it when it gets bad."

"How do you know it's there if you can't see it?"

How could he thoroughly explain microscope? "Well, there is an equipment. You put it under a really sharp magnifying glass, and you will see it moving."

"Gross."

"That sums it up," Her genuine, unfiltered, response brought a quirk to his lips, "So Cub's got to have his shoulder checked out to make sure it doesn't go bad."

"If it goes bad, will he have to cut off his arm?"

Cub would probably be giving him the stink eye the rest of his life if Wolf gave Lily nightmares, "What? No, 'course not. It won't go bad. If Cub said he isn't hurt, he isn't. He'll be fine."

"Okay," Lily hummed, seventy-percent unconvinced judging by the skepticism in the note, "Do you have the strings?"

"Strings?" When did the word string come into their conversation?

"For the bridge, _dummy_."

* * *

Time flew fast, much like cawing crows as they left an imprint of what was once there in their hasty getaway, and it was the end of the week, which signaled the impending departure of Cub and Lily. One week left.

They got the bridge finished in record time, but it was only because of Eagle, Snake, and Fox, and their lack of respect for his privacy. Lily threw a fit when the rest of K-Unit 'accidentally' stumbled into their hiding spot. It wasn't much of a hiding spot, but it would be hard to find if they didn't know what they were looking for. Finally settling down to huffing in annoyance, Lily made them swear to not tell Cub about any of this. Gleefully, Fox did, saying he was going to enjoy watching Cub's face when he receives the gifts. Lily just solemnly fell silent.

"She's a nice kid." Wolf told Cub one early morning in the cafeteria. It was four days before departure, "What's it with you and the Sarg?"

"I have my influences," He outright grinned at Wolf, "You like Lily, don't you? She makes friends everywhere she goes."

"Your awful influences rubbed off on her," Wolf snorted, "The child's stubborn, and constantly trying to best me."

"Sounds like you got her all figured out."

Wolf took a bite, watching as Cub's gaze turned to his right to watch Lily having an argument with Eagle about the state of the food, something about puddings were liquid. There were longing in those brown eyes that Wolf didn't understand. Perhaps leaving camp together didn't mean Cub and Lily would stay together. Of course, Wolf sighed, the girl was the sergeant's daughter. Maybe she was going home after the vacation at the training camp and Cub going on another mission.

"What's your plan next week?" Wolf prompted, bringing the spy's attention back on him.

"What?"

"Your plan. Next week."

He blinked. Once, twice, before his eyes flickered sideways, then back up again. In evasion, "Well, sleep in I suppose."

"You going on a mission soon?"

"Don't think so, why?"

"Nothing," Wolf jerked his head at Lily, "What about her?"

Cub didn't say anything for a long while and Wolf ruled the wistful glances as his reluctance to part with the girl, "She will be fine."

Well. Okay then. Wolf could see where Lily got her twist and turn thought process from. Neither of them really paid attention to his questions. Cub probably didn't know what she was going to do, but Wolf wouldn't put it any further than going to school—she would be in first grade, he supposed—and living with the sergeant's wife. Or ex-wife, he really didn't want to ask the man.

"What 'bout you?" Cub turned and asked him lamely, his tone not in it the slightest.

"Finish the training," He snorted in amusement, "Stand-by. Deployment. The usual."

"Okay, sounds great."

His disinterest in Wolf's reply couldn't have been more blatant though Wolf decided to cut the emotional young man the slack. Yeah, he understood the feeling of departures and leaving loved ones behind, which was why his previous two girlfriends had left him. They were afraid, out of love, but that didn't make it all right.

When Cub later excused himself to see the sergeant, Lily flapped her arms to get K-Unit's attention for her secret group conversation, "Cubby and I are leaving in four days, but I don't wanna give him the bridge until next Tuesday."

"What? Why?" Fox asked.

"It's a secret," Lily grinned, albeit a little lacking, and leaned forward, "Cubby and I are going to the hospital on Tuesday, and after that, I'm not gonna see Cubby for a long time so I wanna give him a goodbye gift."

"That's so nice of you, wonder if Cub's gonna get you anything."

"He's done enough for me already, I want to return the favor."

Eagle grinned and ruffled her hair the way he had seen Cub do it million of times before, "Okay, give us the room number, and we'll valiantly ride our horses to appease your demand."

"You have to arrive at exactly six P.M.. It's room 404 on the third floor…" Lily pulled out a napkin and a pen and began giving them a stern lecture on which corridors to take and which to avoid to get them across the buildings the fastest. Apparently, nurses could hassle patients to death with the endless droning of 'get well soon'.

Cub and Lily left four days later on a private chopper. The sergeant had given the little girl a long hug, and Cub a firm handshake and a pat on the back. The head of infirmary was there as well, and the way she held Cub's face in her hands—Cub surprisingly not resisting—told them that there was something going on. Lily winked at them as she was hoisted into the chopper by Cub, and K-Unit waved back, knowing she meant for them to keep their promise. Well, they've got to find an excuse now.

And two days later, they were in the hospital with the box in between them.

"Think Cub's gonna be please to see us?" Eagle grinned as he rapped gently on the cardboard box containing the bridge model they had spent hours and days on.

"It's only been four days," Snake reminded him dryly.

"If he isn't pleased to see us, I'm sure Lily will save us from his wrath," Grinning, Fox added, "Right, Wolf? You can channel your beautiful friendship with the kid to sooth Cub's inferno."

"Of course he'll be glad to see us," Wolf frowned, "Why wouldn't he? We did just spend two weeks together going through training camp."

"Definitely different from the first time we met Cub, eh?"

"Whatever differences we had, we solved it out, remember?" He huffed in exasperation, "We even shook hands and all."

" _Mhm_ ," Nodding sagely, the older spy crossed his arms, "Though pinky promise would have lasted your vows longer."

They erupted into laughter, which Wolf did not join in in favor of a sigh. Lily had been right in her detailed layout of the hospital. The stairs they took were usually devoid of nurses and only every now and then rushing doctors that were probably paged to some sort of emergency. They made it to the third floor without any questions—though several patients did shoot them inquiring glances at the box they carried amid them. Now that he thought about it, it looked as if they were carrying a coffin, albeit a small one at that.

"I see the placard," Fox nodded to their right. It was the third room along the right. The door was slightly ajar and the blinds slanted so that they couldn't see the interior from where they stood, but the sign next to the door read 404 in bold black letters.

They saw Cub through the ajar door, leaning against the wall, but they couldn't see his face. It was only when they pushed the door a little further open to announce their presence that Wolf knew something was wrong. Cub's red-rimmed eyes shot toward them, first in embarrassment, then in anger, then he deflated.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" He wasn't yelling, there was no venom in his voice, and it was just a simple question.

"Um," Wolf was taken aback, "Are you alright?"

Furiously, he wiped away the trails of dried tears so out of place on his usual grinning and mock condescending features, "Yeah. What are you doing here?" He said again.

Wolf opened his mouth to reply, but that was before his gaze had shifted to the figure laying in the hospital bed—and he wasn't sure if he shut his mouth afterwards when he was staring—and he froze.

Lily.

"Is she alright?" Snake asked, concerned, as he pushed the rest of K-Unit inside and closed the door behind them, "Cub?"

There was no rhythmic beeping in the room, no bags being hung up by the hooks near her bedside, no wires taped to her body, no nothing. She was sleeping.

A simple angelic smile graced her lips and her blond locks brushed back as if prepared for a wedding. Her eyes were closed, and he could almost imagine her dreaming of lakes and golden bridges, of helicopters and tiny blue rivers.

But her chest wasn't moving.

"No," Wolf breathed as he fumbled to her bed, "No no no no no! Goddammit! What happened, Cub? Why is she _dead_?"

The word ruptured out of his mouth before he could control it and it sucked the air out of the room like a cruel joke—and Cub was the only one breathing. Or was he? Because for a long moment, he looked so pale that made Wolf absently wondered if the two weeks under the hot sun was nothing more than an illusion, something created by his mind—like a dream—to cover up some bullshit.

"Goddammit Cub! Why _the hell_ is she dead?"

"She had cancer," Cub's calm tone shattered the silence.

Wolf snorted in disbelief, "Bullshit. You can't even leave the house in stage 4 cancer, people don't get and die from cancer in the span of two days, Cub. Even if it was cancer, she couldn't have been in anymore than stage 2. What happened to her?"

"Cub."

"Al…"

"She didn't want surgery, okay?" Cub pushed himself off the wall in a surge of emotions, "She wanted to die. The doctors agreed to let us do this."  
"What the fuck is _that_ supposed to mean?"

"Suicide."

Wolf didn't know he could get so attached to someone—a child, nonetheless—in the short span of a push-and-pull two weeks, but God was he attached, and every second his eyes rested on the unmoving body melting into the white covers, stabs of pain jerked him back every time he tried to move away.

"She loved you," Wolf whirled around, nearly slamming Cub into the wall if not for the last second remembering the adoration that had shone like brilliant moon light in Lily's eyes, "How can you just…watch her die? How can you let her go through with it? She's six! She's not suppose to make these kind of decisions. She's got a father, a loving family, waiting for her. Why the fuck wouldn't she want to live?" He paused, stepping back a few steps, nearly stumbling as he backed into the bed, "Where's the sergeant?"

Something unfroze, and Cub took a shuddering breath, "I…I'm sorry."

Then he ran out on them.

The box was left unopened. For a long moment, he imagined emptying his magazine into the box, the bridge turning into pieces, because that was what it was. Just pieces. Without Lily, they were just pieces. They could have been something, they could have been a bridge, but now, they were back to square one, if not ten folds worse.

They ran out, trying to catch Cub, and Wolf needed answers. They didn't find him.

The first day back at camp, he had stormed into the sergeant's office. He wanted to know why did the man let his daughter die when she could have had the surgery? Why didn't she take the chance to live? Because Wolf wasn't going to let it go. It had been a life, dammit. A life wasted, a brilliant candle dimmed. All because of what? All because the adults thought the child could think for her own— _I'm not fragile, I can do this. Don't be a Cubby—_ and the one person she looked up to the most was a young spy whose idea of life was probably muddled by the influences of horrid video games, and the things that teenagers did.

Wolf wasn't prepared for the weary sigh and the reply, "She's not my daughter, Wolf."

"Cub said…"

"She was a prisoner of war, daughter of one of the soldiers who didn't return."

"What?"

"She was taken at a young age, and Cub got captured when he tried to free her. She had no family left so he took her home with him after they were…after they got out."

 _Cubby got hurt trying to save me, but he said it doesn't hurt. I think he's lying._

"She was diagnosed with stage 2 cancer three weeks ago. It was her choice, Wolf, it was not anybody else's."

Six months later, the box was opened by Cub's trembling fingers.

For five months, Wolf had walked by the box every day, wondering if it would ever see light again. Sometimes, he wanted to pry the badly-decorated tape aside just to see the bridge, feel her hands sticking the chips and pieces on, and remember their conversations— _dummy_ —but he didn't want to open it, and he didn't. This was for Cub. This was Lily's goodbye gift, the young man and the child's final farewell.

 _I'm not gonna see Cubby for a long time so I wanna give him a goodbye gift._

Lily had thought Wolf could help Cub get over her death.

Five and a half month after her death, Wolf finally fulfilled that wish. On a retrieval mission. They found Cub, huddled in the corner of the cell. Guards laid dead outside the bars, and the door was opened with nothing more than a thin solid click. It swung open, revealing the figure.

"Cub."

"Please…please take her first. She needs help," Cub rose unsteadily to his feet.

Wolf turned. There was nothing inside beside the filthy drip drip of the leaky ceiling, and the cold harsh floor which the water rolled off into the corner drain.

"Her name's Lily," Cub pled as Snake wrapped an arm around his waist and pulled Cub's arm over his shoulder, "Please, she needs help. She's been here for too long."

He was delirious, seeing things that weren't supposed to be there, but Wolf stood in the empty cell for a moment, ignoring Eagle's questioning gaze. Just to make sure. It wouldn't hurt to make sure. To make sure Lily really wasn't here.

"Her name's Lily…" It was no more than a whisper from Cub now, "You've got to get her out. She needs help. She really needs help."

"Cub," Eagle stepped before the drifting spy, and grabbed his face between his hand like the head of infirmary had done, "Cub look at me, Lily isn't here. No, look at me, it's Eagle, buddy…You're sick, delirious. You're seeing things that aren't here."

A shook of his head, even the smallest movement sent tremors through his weak body. Something inside of Wolf broke.

"There's a girl with me. Her name's Lily…" It was as if the phrase had became a survival instinct, "She's with me. She's only six…Please…"

Somewhere along the line, memory and reality had blurred and Wolf found it frightening. This wasn't a dream—he could deal with dreams—this was Cub reliving his memory one frame at a time. Wolf gestured for them to stop their progress, removed his jacket, and covered Cub's trembling frame. God, what did they do to him?

He then laid a hand gently on Cub's shoulder, "C'mon Cub, we've got her. Let's go. Let's get out of here. Alright?"

"...Lily…?"

"Yeah, we've got her. We've got Lily. I got her."

The world around Wolf blurred and he found his throat hurting at his each attempt to swallow as he watched Cub lifted his head up gingerly, a heartbreakingly beautiful smile lit up his face as he breathlessly replied, "…Thank you."


End file.
